The secretary looked to the ground and was in shock to see tiny drops on the fall. For a moment there, she actually thought her glasses were wet. After cleaning them on her uniform and looking again, her mouth was left open.
The Brigadier general was crouched on the fall and from the low subs she was hearing, she was surprised to see that he was actually crying.
"Brigadier General Bridges! are you okay sir!?"
"Am I okay!? Did you just ask such a stupid question!? Do I look okay to YOU!?" he flared up at her.
She backed up in fear. Her moderately high heels were not suitable for her panicked steps and she fell on her backside. The General seeing what he had done stopped his shouting. He went back to his desk and sat on his seat.
After a few seconds, he wiped his eyes and then he massaged his temple, "I am sorry! I shouldn't have done that. That was very wrong of me." He apologized in a low tone. "Please have a seat." he gestured.
Although she still looked panicked, she still complied with the order. However, she only sat partially and she did not dare rest her back on the backrest.
He sighed loudly, as he brought out a picture from under his desk. It was a picture of two women. Although one looked older than the other, they were still both quite very beautiful.
"Do you know who these two are?" He asked the secretary.
She took a look at the picture for a while and then she shook her head.
He nodded, "I see! How long have you been working here sergeant?"
"About three months sir!" She answered.
"I see. It's no wonder you don't know. But you are not to be blamed. However, I have never even talked about them with you, nor have I shown you their pictures before. They are my wife and daughter."
"Oh! That's nice sir. Since you never said anything, I had assumed that you did not have a family. But now that I see them, I have to say that you have a nice family sir."
"Hmmm! Thank you! That's really flattering. However, the last time it felt like a nice family, was more than a year ago. As it is now, my family is nearly broken in two, and the devil that caused it all has just come visiting again."
"Sir!?" She had a questioning look on her face.
"There is no other way to say this. Sergeant, if you know you want to live a long life without scars and heartache, I'll advise that no matter what you do or don't do, even if it means you drowning and that is the only way for you to be saved-stay away from Adria!"
"Sir! I don't understand. What did he do?" She asked in confusion.
"No! No!! No!!! Sergeant, the correct question is what did he not do?" Bridges stood from his seat and strolled to his window. The same one had been standing when she entered. "Sergeant, how many central towers do we have in this barracks?"
"Three, sir!"
"And what are they for?" He asked
Even though she did not know why he asked such a question, she still answered, "The first one is used as a weather station and a control tower for flights. The second is this one. Which forms an integral part of the headquarters. Its peak is your office and residence, sir. And lastly the third is labeled out of banned for all personnel."
"Good! I see you know this place well."
"Of cause sir! It is only natural."
He nodded, "But the third tower. Have you ever been curious as to why it is out of banned?"
"No, sir!"
"Hmmm! okay. Let me tell you another surprising thing. One that you might know of, but did not consider to be particularly interesting." He turned and faced her, "This place houses very mature men and women, which means respect for privacy should naturally be an easy thing. However, the male quarters are very well separated from the female quarters. In fact, each quarter is not only separated, but it is also fenced. Do you know why?"
"No, sir!"
"Oh! but you do. Don't do?" He stared at her attentively.
"Yes... Yes, sir. Am not so sure sir. But I have heard the rumors."
"And what do they say?"
"It's because of a particular Darkling sir."
"And what is his name?"
"I'm not sure, sir!" He drew closer to her and she started to panic once more.
"Come on. WHO!!!?"
"Adria, sir!" She whispered in a tiny voice.
"Yes! you are right. It's Adria. That same Adria. In one month of his arrival, we nearly canceled females from being posted to the Citadel. By the second month, we had to build a separate tower-thereby isolating his room. By the end of that same month, he had led a miniature rebellion saying that we needed to change all the chefs in the kitchen to females-that seeing a female face serving a meal increases productivity in fighting vampires. Surprisingly, more than half of the barracks were in his favor. And in the last month, before he left, I made the biggest mistake of my life."
He reached under his desk and brought out a bottle of wine. Uncorking it, he took a deep swing. The secretary watched this and tried as much as possible to reframe any comments she might have.
"Ahhh! that hits the spot." He picked up the picture and stared affectionately at it, "I had been in this godforsaken place for so long. And my wife and daughter were missing me. Flights to and fro were much safer then. They decided to pay me a visit and I approved. My wife even cooked my favorite meal. It was supposed to be a quick visit. A QUICK VISIT!" little drops of tears fell down his eyes again.
"Do you know what happened to them when they came here!?" He asked an obviously rhetorical question.
She shook her head slightly.
"They came and guess what, by some coincidence somewhere, they met Adria." He laughed a bit at himself, "Till today, My wife still wants a divorce and my daughter fell into an addiction. All because they met him..."
*Ring!!!*
The phone at the side rang, interrupting their conversation. Although he did not want to, he reluctantly picked up the phone, "Yes! This is Brigadier General Bridges." The expression on his face slowly morphed and then he dropped the phone. "We are so screwed..."